Electrocatalysis is a potential method for sustainable hydrogen production, and the development of non-noble metal-based effective electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting is the core of exploiting and utilizing renewable energy. Herein, a stupendous electrocatalyst with multiheterostructure interfaces and 3D porous structure is synthesized, and the mechanisms of enhanced electrocatalytic activity combining multicharacterizations and density functional calculations are clarified. Especially, the fabricated Co 2 P/N@Ti 3 C 2 T x @NF (denoted as CPN@TC) exhibits an ultralow overpotential of 15 mV to arrive at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 with the long-term durability and a small Tafel slope of 30 mV dec −1 in 1 m KOH, which even compares with noble metal catalysts favorably. The outstanding HER activity is ascribed to multiheterointerfaces for adsorbing H 2 O and H*, fine conductivity for the electronic transmission, and well-designed structure for rapid transport of ions and gases. It is reasonable to think that the synthetic strategy of CPN@TC can be extended to the preparation of transition-metal-based phosphides for enhanced catalytic performance.

Preparation of high-activity and earth-abundant bifunctional catalysts for efficient electrochemical water splitting are crucial and challenging. Herein, Co-doped Ni 3 N nanosheets loaded on nickel foam (Co−Ni 3 N) were synthesized. The as-prepared Co−Ni 3 N exhibits excellent catalytic activity toward both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals that Co−Ni 3 N with redistribution of electrons not only can facilitate the HER kinetics but also can regulate intermediates adsorption energies for OER. Specifically, the Co−Ni 3 N exhibits high efficiency and stable catalytic activity, with an overpotential of only 30 and 270 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 for the HER and OER in 1 M KOH, respectively. This work provides strong evidence to the merit of Co doping to improve the innate electrochemical performance in bifunctional catalysts, which might have a common impact in many similar metal− metal nitride electrocatalysts.

In this study, effectively conductive rGO (reduced graphene oxide) was used as the supporter both to promote charge transfer and to refine particle size of WC, to realize efficient and stable HER performance.

It still is a challenge to create a superior and easily coupled bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting impelled by a low voltage. In this work, the controlled growth of Co2P NAs on the surface of a MXene (Ti3C2T x )-modified self-supporting electrode is demonstrated as a competent and reliable bifunctional electrocatalyst for efficient water splitting. The heterointerface in Co2P@Ti3C2T x with an optimized adsorption free energy of H*, H2O, and better conductivity can give enhanced HER (hydrogen evolution reaction) activity, with a low overpotential (42 mV) at 10 mA cm–2. Additionally, the OER (oxygen evolution reaction) activity has also been similarly strengthened by the synergy of Co2P and MXene with an overpotential of 267 mV to arrive at 10 mA cm–2. Furthermore, the excellent bifunctional electrode (Co2P@Ti3C2T x ∥Co2P@Ti3C2T x ) exhibits efficient engineering water-splitting performance (1.46 V@10 mA cm–2) in alkaline solution. This simple design can propose a promising approach to exploit precious-metal-free catalysts for energy conversion.

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Developing highly efficient non-precious electrocatalytic materials for H 2 production in an alkaline medium is attractive on the front of green energy production. Herein, we successfully designed an electrocatalyst with superb hydrophilicity, high conductivity, and a kinetically beneficial structure using Ni 2 P/MXene over a 3D Ni foam (NF) for the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) based on the laboratory and computational research works. The designed self-supported and highly effective electrocatalyst achieves a huge boost in the HER activity compared with that of pristine Ni 2 P nanosheets owing to the distinctive structure and synergy of coupling Ti 3 C 2 T x and Ni 2 P. More specifically, Ni 2 P/Ti 3 C 2 T x /NF produces an electric current density of 10 mA•cm −2 under a low overpotential (135 mV) and shows excellent durability under alkaline (1 M KOH) conditions, and the observed performance degradation is negligible. The outstanding HER activity makes the synthetic strategy of Ni 2 P/Ti 3 C 2 T x /NF a potential approach to be extended to other transition-metal-based electrocatalysts for enhanced catalytic performance.

The expression of IL-17A and programmed death ligand 1 (PDL1) is increased in estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. IL-17A promotes tumor cell survival and invasiveness and inhibits the antitumor immune response. The PDL1–PD1 (programmed death protein 1) signaling pathway promotes escape from immune surveillance in tumor cells. The pro-tumor properties of IL-17A and PDL1 in various cancers have been previously examined; however, the relationship and roles of IL-17A and PDL1 in ER-negative breast cancer have not been evaluated. Therefore, we assessed whether IL-17A promotes PDL1 expression in tumor cells and whether targeting of IL-17A could inhibit ER-negative breast cancer progression in a murine model. Our study revealed that IL-17A promoted PDL1 expression in human and mouse cells. In the murine cancer model, targeting of IL-17A inhibited PDL1 expression in the tumor microenvironment, decreased the percentage of Treg cells in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and promoted CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to secrete interferon gamma. More importantly, treatment with combined anti-IL-17A and anti-PDL1 antibodies enhanced antitumor effects in favor of tumor eradication. Thus, our study established a pro-tumor role of IL-17A in promoting tumor immune escape and supports the development of a novel cytokine immunotherapy against breast cancer.

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